It became one of those amazing weekends where plans meant we spent most of the day out and about as a family. I absolutely love these weekends and can imagine, joined by many other working families the time in the week can at times be very limited with your family.
On this occasion we were out in the park, spent one day family shopping where a treat for the kids was McDonalds, not the best but one that the kids do enjoy as a rare treat. Me personally i would like to relax in a nicer, less harsh environment, one where i can speak with the family without the loud hustle and bustle and on this annoying occasion pushing while we ate.
Now to the point of todays post. We as a family love our Sunday roasts but as one knows can, at times be very demanding on time. Nothing too strenuous on a normal relaxed Sunday that involves the house chores in between building lego or playing games with my kids. This weekend however was a different matter and the question:
‘How can i have a roast when we are out for most of the day’
I guess we could have had a pub lunch but never the same as your own, and so this time i made slow cooker beef brisket. A choice of meat ideal for slow cookers or braising in the oven. one that is packed with rich flavours and chunky vegetables, this was the ideal.
A huge success too, coming home at around 4 pm to the smell and aroma of the beef was incredible and then the rest of our roast (already prepared before leaving for the days activities) took about an hour and so we managed to sit down and have our classic family Sunday roast.
A truly wonderful weekend.
Now for the second wave, the two-way element. With some beef left over i managed to get some time off over lunch the next day and so made the quick ten minute BBQ beef baguette. This involved using half-baked baguettes (ten minutes to cook) of which in this time made a quick homemade coleslaw, chopped and fried the beef with some red onion and Heinz sticky BBQ sauce. Served hot with some grated cheddar, what better way to serve your left over beef brisket.
We certainly enjoyed both meals that i can say. In fact i actually had a whole baguette to myself.
Would you like to share your ideas for left over roast meats, please comment below or submit your own recipes. I would certainly love to hear about your creations.
Slow Cooker Braised Beef Brisket
Ingredients
- 1 Kg Rolled Beef Brisket
- 400 ml Beef Stock
- 200 ml Red Wine
- 4 cloves garlic
- 100 g Carrot
- 1 stick Celery
- 20 g Flat leaf parsley
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 150 g Onion
- 2 tbsp Oil
- as required Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- 1. Sear the Beef in a couple of tablespoons of oil. Ensure that the beef has been browned all over as best as possible. Add to the slow cooker once done.
- 2. Roughly chop the celery, carrot and onion and fry in the same pan as the beef. Add a little more oil if needed. Fry for a good 10 minutes. Add the garlic cloves a minute before finishing the vegetables off and then add to the beef in the slow cooker.
- 3. With the pan still on the heat add the red wine and using a wooden spoon deglaze the pan. Scraping the bottom of the pan releasing the goodness from the beef and vegetables does this. Add the wine to the slow cooker after the wine has reduced by half.
- 4. Add the stock to the slow cooker. I used stock cubes for this recipe.
- 5. Put the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for two hours. Turn to low after this for the remaining 6 hours.
- 6. If you have a little time before serving your dinner the slow cooker can be put on to warm. If this function is not available then the beef will remain hot for at least 30 minutes once turned off.
- 7. With the beef removed, strain the liquid into a pan and bring to a low boil and thicken with corn flour or beef gravy granules.
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